Sunrises, Reflection, and Darkness
by Brytanie
Summary: Ten songs, ten stories, ten characters who reflect on life, love, and responsibilities. Mostly canon pairings.


Hokay, so here's some drabble-ish stories I wrote of mostly canon pairings based on ten different songs. (I'm bored, so feel free to give me requests for WoT. Crack, slash, canon, or any other ideas you can think of, it's all good).

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters or anything to do with the story, and I'm obviously not making any money off of this. Oh, and I don't own any of the occasional quotes I use from various songs.

song: **Eva - Nightwish**

Lan stared across at the horizon. He assumed that the sun was rising, but the impenetrable clouds covered the entire sky. His face resembled it, blank of emotion. His thoughts were his own.

Nynaeve stood below in the courtyard. She was also alone. Lan knew that the strong, stubborn moments were balanced by the quiet reflective ones spent in solitude.

Lan looked down at her. He could feel his heart blossom as he thought of her goodness and the flowers she brought to his life. He loved her, there was no question.

As a slow smile came to his face, the sun peaked through and shown upon Nynaeve.

song:** The Ministry of Lost Souls – Dream Theatre**

She was determined to follow him.

For all her talk of fate changing, and all her talk of not letting him die, she knew he would. Silently, in the night, when all was quiet, she admitted it to herself.

But she would not let him go alone.

She could guess at what her life would be like without him. If she had never met him. Maybe more tranquil in more senses, and definitely more straight forward.

But she no longer knew that life. And maybe she had to share him with two other women. But a part of him was reserved only for her.

And she was prepared to give up everything. She wouldn't live in pain without him.

Her soul would be given, for the good of the light. She would not survive the last battle.

She would tell no one. Not Rand, not Aviendha or Elayne, no one. Because it was her decision. And despite her reluctance to admit that Rand would not live for much longer, it was one of her only condolences that neither would she.

A tear slid down her cheek. Light, she was stronger than this. Death didn't scare her. But her life after Tarmon Gaiden would be wasted. And all for one man, she thought wryly. Light, how she'd changed.

Anger unexpectedly rose up in her. She resented that the pattern would push her to this path. To ask such a high price as death of the man she loved was cruel.

Despite her warring emotions, she knew that it was the only way. The battle had to be fought, the world needed to be saved. The wheel stopped for no one, not even the Dragon Reborn.

As the sky started to brighten, she smiled ruefully to herself. If some one had told her before she met Rand that she'd spend a whole night worrying about a man, she would have called them a fool. But here she was, with no regrets. All she wanted was a peaceful life with him, but she could settle for a death for the good of all the people.

She wanted to deserve a place beside him.

I promise I will make you proud, she thought silently to herself.

As the sun rose more and more, she buried the secret more and more deeply in herself.

By the time the sun had risen completely, she felt him behind her.

She turned around, a smile on her face. Seeing the sun on him, his loving smile only for her, she thought, oh yes, I won't be living without this. Sereneness came over her. They would be together. Forever. And she kissed him, with all the love and life that she had within her.

song: **Red Light in My Eyes – Children of Bodom**

Ishamael grinned. He didn't mind so much that anyone seeing him now would think him insane. Perhaps he was.

His eyes lit up at the carnage around him. The brutality done by Lews Therin Telamon, who now lied before him, unaware in his madness.

Oh, how he would enjoy curing this madness, letting him know that his beautiful Ilyena, and everyone he loved, was dead by his hand.

We're not as different as you like to think, he thought to himself. They battled again and again, and they would for the rest of time.

And each time, he found himself looking eagerly towards the next.

It will be a shame when I destroy for the last time, he thought.

song: **While Your Lips are Still Red – Nightwish**

Rand grimaced as he glanced at Aviendha. She was still adamant about hating him. After what they'd done together, and she still denied him.

The world was ending, and he needed to stand in the way. Aviendha was caught in her convoluted mess of shame. A waste of time to Rand.

He loved her. And he knew that she loved him. They had little time, a tiny window, to spend together. And he could not chase her forever.

His heart loved both Elayne and her. He could not bear it, that he could be so cruel.

He led his life as best as he could.

And he wouldn't mind leading it with Aviendha at his side, if the woman would come to her senses.

He sighed. There was no point in trying to understand women, and especially not Aiel ones.

song: **Il Canto Del Vento – Rhapsody**

Thom kept a neutral expression. But he was almost giddy on the inside. Mat had asked for the letter. He knew they could all very well end up dead.

But he finally had his chance.

He chuckled to himself. Once again, he was risking his life for a woman. But this time he was saving her. Deep down, he knew he loved her.

But now was not the time for such thoughts.

Now was the time to convince the young idiot that he should come to rescue her.

Thom sometimes let his mind wander to places it should be, about how grateful Moiraine would be, and what she might do for him in return. Even if she was an aes sedai, that could be overlooked.

He sighed. I sing for you, he thought to himself. I dream of you.

This was his chance. He would not give up on her.

He smiled again.

song: **Ghost Opera – Kamelot**

A field of war lay before him. He was the Dragon Reborn. He was full of power. He was the world's hope and salvation.

Lightning struck down from the sky, ensuring victory for the vast army chanting out his name, screaming out for his attention. The True Source surged through him, and he threw his head back in ecstasy, more than a little filled with power.

He would destroy his enemies, and anyone who stood in his way.

The curtains were closing on the battle that he was currently in. A smile crawled across his lips. They never had any chance to begin with.

A last thrust was striking up the middle of the battle field by the opposing force. A last breath by a dying dog.

"So you would like an encore?" He muttered. Explosively, the ground shattered beneath them.

Yes, no one stood in Mazrim's way.

song: **Love You to Death – Kamelot**

The snow was coming down hard, completely obliterating any chance at moving far from where they were now. Even seeing was a challenge, despite his sharp eyes.

But still he was anxious at the wasted time. He knew she was getting weaker everyday.

There's no end to what I'll do, he silently thought to himself. If he had to kill every last Aiel in that bloody army, he would.

She was strong, but how long until they wore her down? She was only one woman.

A woman he would love until he died.

Perrin thought of nothing else. His obsession was Faile. His love was only for Faile. And no man or woman, not Berelain, not thousands of Aiel, could change that.

There really was no end to what he would do, as he glanced at the axe. He would marry it if it brought Faile back.

And that was all that mattered to him.

song: **Islander – Nightwish**

Tuon stood at the sea's edge. The Return had started. She would sail over to this new land that was rightfully hers in only a few days. Her future lay over there, and she knew it. Her army was the long forgotten light that would guide the land through the Last Battle and to survival. So long ago, they had left.

And now it was time to take back what was theirs.

She set her expression in determination. The sea wind blew against her face. But she did not feel it. All her tears and hardship would be left behind here.

And she would bring victory on her shoulders.

song: **Helena's Theme – Kamelot**

Berelain watched as Perrin risked his life over and over to save Faile. She tried to toss her head at her, to ignore her. But Perrin had his heart set on the Saldaean.

She knew that it was goodbye between them. And she would leave, for now.

But she would still love him until the end.

And if the chance came, she would take him from her.

Faile would not win him unscathed, she knew this.

song: **The Land of Ice and Snow – Stratovarius**

Uno walked along the tents of his men. He nodded to those who noticed him, but his mind was far away. He thought of his homeland, Shienar.

He thought of its beauty, and the deceptiveness of peace when it was blanketed in ice and snow. Some might say his people were cold, but their hearts were pure. He missed the trueness and strength of his people. They would fight to the death for their nation, not caught up in pitiful political games.

It was where he was born, and a country he would someday die for. Battle was in his heart, as all Shienaran men, and he would protect the land until he took his last breath.

song:** Poet and the Pendulum – Nightwish**

Rand longed for freedom. Whispers of a madman were trapped in his mind. How long since he had been truly alone?

His fate was unchangeable. In the end, there was only one thing he could do. And that was to die. What happened until then hardly mattered to the pattern.

His hands were guided. Oh, how he hated what he had become. He wanted to return home. He wanted to fly away. He couldn't cry, because he was the world's hope. He must be harder than steel. He could not die before his time.

He remembered the smiling face of his people. He was not born as one of them, but they were still his people. Did they still live? He did not know.

He had many faces. How long until the mask became him? He knew he must harden his heart, but could it become so hard that the ones he loved would be tossed away? Rand vowed that he would not kill them as Lews Therin did.

He loved them, and his fate was tied with them.

He was chosen by the pattern. And he would fulfill its ultimate demand. He knew he would die alone.

He wanted to scream out his broken emotions that he suppressed within him. A young man taken so cruelly from his life of peace. How much of that village boy still remained? Not much, he knew. He had promised the death that Lews Therin longed for. But he would die himself, or the distorted shadow of what he used to be.

Acceptance had come upon him. He prayed that his loved ones would be granted life. They could find love again after him. Not until his death would they be truly free, and there was nothing more than he wished to give them. The freedom that he could never have.

Rand would fight for the world. He would give his life for the world. Because that was his duty. Death lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain, he had heard. And he would carry it to the very end. For Elayne, Min, and Aviendha. For Mat, Perrin, and everyone from the Two Rivers.

For the nameless in the street. He was their hope. Their salvation. And how many would die before they accepted that, he did not know.

But he would do what he had to, and any cost to himself.

Even death.


End file.
